"They" isn't ambiguous at all, though it is occasionally clumsy. It is even (mostly) gramatically correct. Certainly it works better than "this one" instead of "I."

As a complete aside, I've found I like how a few RPG manuals are handling the pronouns in their text. Instead of trying to use "they" (clumsy) or swapping pronouns every once and a while (confusing and distracting) they always refer to the GM as "she" and the player as "he," or the other way around.

It's actually helpful. You know who's being talked about even if you start in the middle of a paragraph, and remove some of the implicit assumption that females will never, ever play this game.

Our language would be better off to drop gendered pronouns, and instead go with numbered ones.First actor, second actor, third actor, fourth actor, fifth actor.

Pri thought that Sec was talking to Ter, but Sec was really in communication with Qua, while Ter and Qui were in discussions.

I can't tell you the history of "they" as a singular pronoun, but I can tell you that my english professor this term was previously a professional editor and singular "they" is a pet peeve of his. Hence, I am avoiding the use of it for the season

In computing circles, where "One thought that Two was talking to Three, but Two was really...." would actually be appropriate, typically the abstract classes are instantiated like so: "Alice thought that Bob was talking to Charlie, but Bob was really..."

_________________May or may not run a Reaver-powered Perpetual Internal Combustion Engine of War And Shrapnel Fabber

"They" isn't ambiguous at all, though it is occasionally clumsy. It is even (mostly) gramatically correct. Certainly it works better than "this one" instead of "I."

As a complete aside, I've found I like how a few RPG manuals are handling the pronouns in their text. Instead of trying to use "they" (clumsy) or swapping pronouns every once and a while (confusing and distracting) they always refer to the GM as "she" and the player as "he," or the other way around.

It's actually helpful. You know who's being talked about even if you start in the middle of a paragraph, and remove some of the implicit assumption that females will never, ever play this game.

Our language would be better off to drop gendered pronouns, and instead go with numbered ones.First actor, second actor, third actor, fourth actor, fifth actor.

Pri thought that Sec was talking to Ter, but Sec was really in communication with Qua, while Ter and Qui were in discussions.

For a language that not only imports new words from other languages, but actively engages in waiting in dark alleys outside theaters and movie houses to belt other languages over the head with a studded cosh and then rifles through their pockets for spare adjectives, that is unlikely to happen.

And why can't we have a nice illogical, messed-up and convoluted language to go with our nice illogical, messed-up and convoluted everything-elses?

"They" isn't ambiguous at all, though it is occasionally clumsy. It is even (mostly) gramatically correct. Certainly it works better than "this one" instead of "I."

As a complete aside, I've found I like how a few RPG manuals are handling the pronouns in their text. Instead of trying to use "they" (clumsy) or swapping pronouns every once and a while (confusing and distracting) they always refer to the GM as "she" and the player as "he," or the other way around.

It's actually helpful. You know who's being talked about even if you start in the middle of a paragraph, and remove some of the implicit assumption that females will never, ever play this game.

Our language would be better off to drop gendered pronouns, and instead go with numbered ones.First actor, second actor, third actor, fourth actor, fifth actor.

Pri thought that Sec was talking to Ter, but Sec was really in communication with Qua, while Ter and Qui were in discussions.

For a language that not only imports new words from other languages, but actively engages in waiting in dark alleys outside theaters and movie houses to belt other languages over the head with a studded cosh and then rifles through their pockets for spare adjectives, that is unlikely to happen.

And why can't we have a nice illogical, messed-up and convoluted language to go with our nice illogical, messed-up and convoluted everything-elses?

English is not the language of scientists. it is the language of poets.

_________________If you need to use a squeegee, they're probably at least Laz-4

I can't tell you the history of "they" as a singular pronoun, but I can tell you that my english professor this term was previously a professional editor and singular "they" is a pet peeve of his. Hence, I am avoiding the use of it for the season

In computing circles, where "One thought that Two was talking to Three, but Two was really...." would actually be appropriate, typically the abstract classes are instantiated like so: "Alice thought that Bob was talking to Charlie, but Bob was really..."

I wonder if english professors would tend to prefer the singular" they" or someone trying to bring back the short lived archaic "thon" for the same purpose. It was derived from "that one" and saw use around 1930.